The National Association for Children of Alcoholics reports there are more than 11 million children under the age of 18 growing up with an alcoholic parent in the United States (“Children of Alcoholism: Important facts”). The association states that almost one in every five adult Americans lived with an alcoholic while growing up (“Children of Alcoholism: Important facts”). Living with an alcoholic is a very dangerous and an emotionally stressful experience. Effects of growing up in an alcoholic in the family can include exposure to Fetal Alcohol Syndrome for a baby that is exposed to alcoholism in the womb, hyperactivity, low self esteem, child abuse and many others. Teenagers who are children of alcoholics are emotionally neglected and may start drinking earlier than their peers. Adults who have survived living with an alcoholic family often have trouble functioning in relationships.

In the 1970's, researchers and other professionals began to look deeply into the impact of parental alcoholism on children (Jacob and Seilhamer 168). This began to open America's eyes to the dangers of being a child of an alcoholic. Although research on this issue has relatively just

started, concern for these unfortunate children has been documented as far back to the time of Aristotle (Jacob and Seilhamer 168). The gin epidemic in England during the 1700's sparked concern due to high infant morbidity and mortality rates (Jacob and Seilhamer 168). Problems associated with being the child of an alcoholic regained national attention in the past 25 years with the formation of such groups as the National Association for Children of Alcoholics, and programs for treatment and prevention such as Al-Ateen (Jacob and Seilhamer 168). The amount of time, attention and studying that is given to try to help and understand children of alcoholics indicates how severe the problem truly is.

Alcoholism impacts families of all races, socioeconomic status and religions. Although each family responds and deals with alcoholism differently, there are several universal problems that most families must face. Ruth Ann Seilhamer and Theodore Jacob authors of Family Factors and Adjustments of Children of Alcoholics have proposed a “pathway” in which parental alcoholism affects offspring (176). The first step in the pathway is consumption of the alcohol. The intake of the alcohol leads to the “ethanol effect” (Seilhamer and Jacob 176). In this direct result of alcohol consumption, the ability to be an “effective parent” is impaired (Seilhamer and Jacob 176). According to Cathy Spatz Widom, in the article “Child Abuse and Alcohol Use and Abuse”, “under the influence of alcohol, individuals who may already be stressed may misinterpret cues and resort to abusive behavior” (291). Many parents that abuse alcohol perform their duties differently when intoxicated and when sober (Ackerman 13). According to Robert Ackerman, author of Let Go and Grow, “When drinking, the alcoholic would demonstrate irresponsible behavior to the child, and when sober would try to do all of the positive parenting at one time” (13). The behaviors exhibited by the alcoholic parent affect the child psychologically, because there is no consistency in parenting. Child abuse is one of the most devastating side effects of the ethanol effect. Abuse can range from psychological abuse to physical abuse and in some cases sexual abuse. There are many statistics that support the fact that alcoholism and abuse go hand in hand. Markowitz and Grossman estimate that around “forty percent of all cases of child maltreatment (including physical abuse, sexual abuse and neglect) involve alcohol” (310). Studies show that “thirteen percent of child abuse cases involved a perpetrator who was intoxicated at the time of the attack”, and that “in sixty nine percent of cases of child abuse, at least one parent was an alcoholic” (310).

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